CHAPTER 1    My Brother Appointed Secretary of Nevada—I Envy His Prospective Adventures—Am Appointed Private Secretary under Him—My Contentment Complete—Packed in One Hour—Dreams and Visions—On the Missouri River—A “Bully”Ⓐemendation Boat
CHAPTER 2    Arrive at St. Joseph—Only Twenty-five Pounds Baggage Alowed—Farewell to Kid Gloves and Dress Coats—Armed to the Teeth—The “Allen”—A Cheerful Weapon—Persuaded to Buy a Mule—Schedule of Luxuries—We Leave “the States”Ⓐemendation—Our CoachⒶemendation—Mails for the Indians—Between a Wink and an Earthquake—A Modern Sphynx and How She Entertained Us—A Sociable Heifer
CHAPTER 3    “The Thoroughbrace Is Broke”—Mails Delivered Properly—Sleeping under Difficulties—A Jackass Rabbit Meditating, and on Business—A Modern Gulliver—Sage-brush—Overcoats as an Article of Diet—Sad Fate of a Camel—Warning to ExperimentersⒶtextual note
CHAPTER 4    Making Our Bed—Assaults by the Unabridged—At a Station—Our Driver a Great and Shining Dignitary—Strange Place for a Front Yard—Accommodations—Double Portraits—An Heirloom—Our Worthy Landlord—“Fixings and Things”—An Exile—Slumgullion—A Well Furnished Table—The Landlord Astonished—Table Etiquette—Wild Mexican Mules—Stage-coaching and Railroading
CHAPTER 5    New Acquaintances—The Cayote—A Dog’s Experiences—A Disgusted Dog—The Relatives of the Cayote—Meals Taken Away from Home
CHAPTER 6    The Division Superintendent—The Conductor—The Driver—One Hundred and Fifty Miles’ Drive without Sleep—Teaching a Subordinate—Our Old Friend Jack and a Pilgrim—Ben HolladayⒶemendation Compared to Moses
CHAPTER 7    Overland City—Crossing the Platte—Bemis’s Buffalo Hunt—Assault by a Buffalo—Bemis’s Horse Goes Crazy—An Impromptu Circus—A New Departure—Bemis Finds Refuge in a Tree—Escapes Finally by a Wonderful Method
CHAPTER 8    The Pony Express—Fifty Miles without Stopping—“Here He Comes!Ⓐemendation”—Alkali Water—Riding an Avalanche—Indian Massacre
CHAPTER 9    Among the Indians—An Unfair Advantage—LyingⒶemendation on Our Arms—A Midnight Murder—Wrath of Outlaws—A Dangerous, Yet Valuable Citizen
CHAPTER 10    History of Slade—A Proposed Fist-Fight—Encounter with Jules—Paradise of Outlaws—Slade as Superintendent—As Executioner—A Doomed Whisky Seller—A Prisoner—A Wife’s Bravery—An Ancient Enemy Captured—Enjoying a Luxury—Hob-nobbing with Slade—Too Polite—A Happy Escape
CHAPTER 11    Slade in Montana—On a SpreeⒶemendation—In Court—Attack on a Judge—Arrest by the Vigilantes—Turn-outⒶemendation of the Miners—Execution of Slade—Lamentations of His Wife—Was Slade a Coward?
CHAPTER 12    A Mormon Emigrant Train—The Heart of the Rocky Mountains—Pure Saleratus—A Natural Ice-House—An Entire Inhabitant—In Sight of “Eternal Snow”—The South Pass—The Parting Streams—An Unreliable Letter Carrier—Meeting of Old Friends—A Spoiled Watermelon—Down the Mountain—A Scene of Desolation—Lost in the Dark—Unnecessary Advice—U.S. Troops and Indians—Sublime Spectacle—Another Delusion Dispelled—Among the Angels
CHAPTER 13    Mormons and Gentiles—Exhilarating Drink, and Its Effect on Bemis—Salt Lake City—A Great Contrast—A Mormon Vagrant—Talk with a Saint—A Visit to the KingⒶemendation—A Happy Simile
CHAPTER 14    Mormon Contractors—How Mr. Street Astonished Them—The Case before Brigham Young, and How He Disposed of It—Polygamy Viewed from a New Position
CHAPTER 15    A Gentile Den—Polygamy Discussed—Favorite Wife and DⒶemendation 4—Hennery for Retired Wives—Children Need Marking—Cost of a Gift to No. 6—A Penny-Whistle Gift and Its Effects—Fathering the Foundlings—It Resembled Him—The Family Bedstead
CHAPTER 16    The Mormon Bible—Proofs of Its Divinity—Plagiarism of Its Authors—Story of Nephi—Wonderful Battle—Kilkenny Cats Outdone
CHAPTER 17    Three Sides to All Questions—Everything a QuarterⒶemendation—Shriveled Up—Emigrants and White Shirts at a Discount—“Forty-Niners”—Above Par—Real Happiness
CHAPTER 18    Alkali Desert—Romance of Crossing Dispelled—Alkali Dust—Effect on the Mules—Universal Thanksgiving
CHAPTER 19    The Digger Indians Compared with the Bushmen of Africa—Food, Life and Characteristics—Cowardly Attack on a Stage-coachⒶemendation—A Brave Driver—The Noble Red Man
CHAPTER 20    The Great American Desert—Forty Miles on Bones—Lakes without Outlets—Greeley’sⒶemendation Remarkable Ride—Hank Monk, the Renowned Driver—Fatal Effects of “Corking” a Story—Bald-Headed Anecdote
CHAPTER 21    Alkali Dust—Desolation and Contemplation—Carson City—Our Journey Ended—We Are Introduced to Several Citizens—A Strange Rebuke—A Washoe Zephyr at Play—Its Office Hours—Governor’s Palace—Government Offices—Our French Landlady Bridget O’Flannigan—Shadow Secrets—Cause for a Disturbance at Once—The Irish Brigade—Mrs. O’Flannigan’s Boarders—The Surveying Expedition—Escape of the Tarantulas
CHAPTER 22    The Son of a Nabob—Start for Lake Tahoe—Splendor of the Views—Trip on the Lake—Camping out—Reinvigorating Climate—Clearing a Tract of Land—Securing a Title—Out-houseⒶemendation and Fences
CHAPTER 23    A Happy Life—Lake Tahoe and Its Moods—Transparency of the Waters—A Catastrophe—Fire! Fire!—A Magnificent Spectacle—Homeless Again—We Take to the Lake—A Storm—Return to Carson
CHAPTER 24    Resolve to Buy a Horse—Horsemanship in Carson—A Temptation—Advice Given Me Freely—I Buy the Mexican Plug—My First Ride—A Good Bucker—I Loan the Plug—Experience of Borrowers—Attempts to Sell—Expense of the Experiment—A Stranger Taken In
CHAPTER 25    The Mormons in Nevada—How to Persuade a Loan from Them—Early History of the Territory—Silver Mines Discovered—The New Territorial Government—A Foreign One and a Poor One—Its Funny Struggles for Existence—No Credit, No Cash—Old Abe CurryⒶemendation Sustains It and Its Officers—Instructions and Vouchers—An Indian’s Endorsement—Toll-RoadsⒶemendation
CHAPTER 26    The Silver Fever—State of the Market—Silver Bricks—Tales Told—Off for the Humboldt Mines
CHAPTER 27    Our Manner of Going—Incidents of the Trip—A Warm but Too Familiar a Bedfellow—Mr. BallouⒶemendation Objects—Sunshine amid Clouds—Safely Arrived
CHAPTER 28    Arrive at the Mountains—Building Our Cabin—My First Prospecting Tour—My First Gold Mine—Pockets Filled with Treasures—Filtering the News to My Companions—The Bubble Pricked—All Not Gold That Glitters
CHAPTER 29    Out Prospecting—A Silver Mine at Last—Making a Fortune with Sledge and Drill—A Hard Road to Travel—We Own in Claims—A Rocky Country
CHAPTER 30    Disinterested Friends—How “Feet” Were Sold—We Quit TunnelingⒶemendation—A Trip to Esmeralda—My Companions—An Indian ProphecyⒶemendation—A Flood—Our Quarters during It
CHAPTER 31    The Guests at “Honey Lake Smith’s”—“Bully Old Arkansas”—Our LandlordⒶemendation—Determined to Fight—The Landlord’s Wife—The Bully Conquered by Her—Another Start—Crossing the Carson—A Narrow Escape—Following Our Own Track—A New Guide—Lost in the Snow
CHAPTER 32    Desperate Situation—Attempts to Make a Fire—Our Horses Leave Us—We Find Matches—One, Two, Three and the Last—No Fire—Death Seems Inevitable—We Mourn over Our Evil Lives—Discarded Vices—We Forgive Each Other—An Affectionate Farewell—The Sleep of Oblivion
CHAPTER 33    Return of Consciousness—Ridiculous Developments—A Station-HouseⒶemendation—Bitter Feelings—Fruits of Repentance—Resurrected Vices
CHAPTER 34    About Carson—Gen.Ⓐemendation Buncombe—Hyde vs. Morgan—How Hyde Lost His Ranch—The Great Land-SlideⒶemendation Case—The Trial—Gen.Ⓐemendation Buncombe in Court—A Wonderful Decision—A Serious Afterthought
CHAPTER 35    A New TravelingⒶemendation Companion—All Full and No Accommodations—How Capt.Ⓐemendation Nye Found Room—And Caused Our Leaving to be Lamented—The Uses of TunnelingⒶemendation—A Notable Example—We Go into the ClaimⒶemendation Business and Fail—At the Bottom
CHAPTER 36    A Quartz Mill—Amalgamation—“Screening Tailings”—First Quartz Mill in Nevada—Fire Assay—A Smart Assayer—I Stake for an Advance
CHAPTER 37    The Whiteman Cement Mine—Story of Its Discovery—A Secret Expedition—A Nocturnal Adventure—A Distressing Position—A Failure and a Week’s Holiday
CHAPTER 38    Mono Lake—Shampooing Made Easy—Thoughtless Act of Our Dog and the Results—Lye Water—Curiosities of the Lake—Free Hotel—Some Funny Incidents a Little Overdrawn
CHAPTER 39    Visit to the Islands in Mono LakeⒶemendation—Ashes and Desolation—Life amid Death—ⒶemendationOur Boat Adrift—A Jump for Life—A Storm on the Lake—A Mass of Soap Suds—Geological Curiosities—A Week on the Sierras—A Narrow Escape from a Funny Explosion—“Stove Heap Gone”
CHAPTER 40    The “Wide West” Mine—It Is InterviewedⒶemendation by Higbie—A Blind Lead—Worth a Million—We Are Rich at Last—Plans for the Future
CHAPTER 41    A Rheumatic Patient—Day Dreams—An Unfortunate Stumble—I Leave Suddenly—Another Patient—Higbie in the Cabin—Our Balloon BurstⒶemendation—Worth Nothing—Regrets and Explanations—Our Third Partner
CHAPTER 42    What to Do Next?—Obstacles I Had Met With—“Jack of All Trades”—Mining Again—Target Shooting—I Turn City Editor—I Succeed Finely
CHAPTER 43    My Friend Boggs—The School Report—Boggs Pays Me an Old Debt—Virginia City
CHAPTER 44    Flush Times—Plenty of Stock—Editorial Puffing—Stocks Given Me—Salting Mines—A Tragedian in a New Role
CHAPTER 45    Flush Times Continue—Sanitary Commission Fund—Wild Enthusiasm of the People—Would Not Wait to Contribute—The Sanitary Flour Sack—It Is Carried to Gold Hill and Dayton—Final Reception in Virginia—Results of the Sale—A Grand Total
CHAPTER 46    The Nabobs of Those Days—John Smith as a Traveler—Sudden Wealth—A Sixty-Thousand-Dollar Horse—A Smart Telegraph Operator—A Nabob in New York City—Charters an Omnibus—“Walk RightⒶemendation in, It’s All Free”—“You Can’t Pay a Cent”—“Hold on, Driver, I Weaken”—Sociability of New YorkersⒶemendation
CHAPTER 47    Buck Fanshaw’s Death—The Cause Thereof—Preparations for His Burial—Scotty Briggs the CommitteemanⒶemendation—He Visits the Minister—Scotty Can’t Play His Hand—The Minister Gets Mixed—Both Begin to See—“All DownⒶemendation but Nine”—Buck Fanshaw as a Citizen—How to “ShakeⒶemendation Your Mother”—The Funeral—Scotty Briggs as a Sunday School Teacher
CHAPTER 48    The First Twenty-six Graves in Nevada—The Prominent Men of the County—The Man Who Had Killed His Dozen—Trial by Jury—Specimen Jurors—A Private GraveyardⒶemendation—The Desperadoes—WhomⒶemendation They Killed—Ⓐemendation Ⓐtextual noteSatisfaction without Fighting
CHAPTER 49    Fatal Shooting Affray—Robbery and Desperate Affray—A Specimen City Official—A Marked Man—A Street Fight—Punishment of Crime
CHAPTER 50    Capt.Ⓐemendation Ned Blakely—Bill NoakesⒶemendation Receives Desired Information—Killing of Blakely’s Mate—A Walking Battery—Blakely Secures NoakesⒶemendation—Hang First and Be Tried AfterwardⒶemendation—Capt.Ⓐemendation Blakely as a Chaplain—The First Chapter of Genesis Read at a Hanging—NoakesⒶemendation Hung—Blakely’s Regrets
CHAPTER 51    The Weekly Occidental Ⓐemendation—A Ready Editor—A Novel—A Concentration of Talent—The Heroes and the Heroines—The Dissolute Author Engaged—Extraordinary Havoc with the Novel—A Highly Romantic Chapter—The Lovers Separated—Jonah OutdoneⒶemendation—A Lost Poem—The Aged Pilot Man—Storm on the Erie Canal—Dollinger the Pilot Man—Terrific Gale—Danger Increases—A Crisis Arrived—Saved as if by a Miracle
CHAPTER 52    Freights to California—Silver Bricks—UndergroundⒶemendation Mines—Timber Supports—A Visit to the Mines—The Caved Mines—Total of Shipments in 1863
CHAPTER 53    Jim Blaine and His Grandfather’s Ram—Filkins’sⒶemendation Mistake—Old Miss Wagner and Her Glass Eye—JacopsⒶemendation, the Coffin Dealer—Waiting for a Customer—His Bargain with Old Robbins—Robbins Sues for Damage and Collects—A New Use for Missionaries—The Effect—His Uncle LemⒶemendation and the Use Providence Made of Him—Sad Fate of Wheeler—Devotion of His Wife—A Model Monument—What about the Ram?
CHAPTER 54    Chinese in Virginia City—Washing Bills—Habit of Imitation—Chinese Immigration—A Visit to Chinatown—Messrs. Ah Sing, Hong Wo, See Yup, etc.Ⓐemendation
CHAPTER 55    Tired of Virginia City—An Old Schoolmate—A Two Years’ Loan—Acting as an Editor—Almost Receive an Offer—An Accident—Three Drunken Anecdotes—Last Look at MountⒶemendation Davidson—A Beautiful Incident
CHAPTER 56    Off for San Francisco—Western and Eastern Landscapes—The Hottest Place on Earth—Summer and Winter
CHAPTER 57    California—Novelty of Seeing a Woman—“Well,Ⓐemendation if It Ain’t a Child!”—One Hundred and Fifty Dollars for a Kiss—Waiting for a Turn
CHAPTER 58    Life in San Francisco—Worthless Stocks—My First Earthquake—Reportorial Instincts—Effects of the Shocks—Incidents and Curiosities—Sabbath Breakers—The Lodger and the Chambermaid—A Sensible Fashion to Follow—Effects of the Earthquake on the Ministers
CHAPTER 59    Poor Again—Slinking as a Business—A Model Collector—Misery Loves Company—Comparing Notes for Comfort—A Streak of Luck—Finding a Dime—Wealthy by Comparison—Two Sumptuous Dinners
CHAPTER 60    An Old Friend—An Educated Miner—Pocket-MiningⒶemendation—Freaks of Fortune
CHAPTER 61    Dick Baker and His Cat—Tom Quartz’s Peculiarities—On an Excursion—Appearance on His Return—A Prejudiced Cat—Empty Pockets and a Roving Life
CHAPTER 62    Bound for the Sandwich Islands—The Three Captains—The Old Admiral—His Daily Habits—His Well Fought Fields—An Unexpected Opponent—The Admiral Overpowered—The Victor Declared a Hero
CHAPTER 63    Arrival at the Islands—Honolulu—What I Saw There—Dress and Habits of the Inhabitants—The Animal Kingdom—Fruits and Delightful Effects
CHAPTER 64    An Excursion—Capt.Ⓐemendation Phillips and His Turn-out—A Horseback Ride—A Vicious Animal—Nature and Art—Interesting Ruins—All Praise to the Missionaries
CHAPTER 65    Interesting Mementoes and Relics—An Old Legend of a Frightful Leap—An Appreciative Horse—Horse-Jockeys and Their Brothers—A New Trick—A Hay Merchant—Good Country for Horse Lovers
CHAPTER 66    A Saturday Afternoon—Sandwich Island Girls on a Frolic—The Poi Merchant—Grand Gala Day—A Native Dance—Church Membership—Cats and Officials—An Overwhelming Discovery
CHAPTER 67    The Legislature of the Island—What Its President Has Seen—Praying for an Enemy—Women’s Rights—Romantic Fashions—Worship of the Shark—Desire for Dress—Full Dress—Not Paris Style—Playing Empire—Officials and Foreign Ambassadors—Overwhelming Magnificence
CHAPTER 68    A Royal Funeral—Order of Procession—Pomp and Ceremony—A Striking Contrast—A Sick Monarch—Human Sacrifices at His Death—Burial Orgies
CHAPTER 69    “Once More upon the WatersⒶemendation”—A Noisy Passenger—Several Silent Ones—A Moonlight Scene—Fruits and Plantations
CHAPTER 70    A Droll Character—Mrs. BeazeleyⒶemendation and Her Son—Meditations on Turnips—A Letter from Horace Greeley—An Indignant Rejoinder—The Letter Translated but Too Late
CHAPTER 71    Kealakekua Bay—Death of Capt.Ⓐemendation Cook—His Monument—Its Construction—On Board the Schooner
CHAPTER 72    Young Kanakas in New England—A Temple Built by Ghosts—Female Bathers—I Stood Guard—Women and WhiskyⒶemendation—A Fight for Religion—Arrival of Missionaries
CHAPTER 73    Native Canoes—Surf-BathingⒶemendation—A Sanctuary—How Built—The Queen’s Rock—Curiosities—Petrified Lava
CHAPTER 74    Visit to the Volcano—The Crater—Pillar of Fire—Magnificent Spectacle—A Lake of Fire
CHAPTER 75    The North Lake—Fountains of Fire—Streams of Burning Lava—Tidal Waves
CHAPTER 76    A Reminiscence—Another Horse Story—My Ride with the Retired Milk Horse—A Pic-nickingⒶemendation Excursion—Dead Volcano of HaleakalaⒶemendation—Comparison with Vesuvius—An Inside View
CHAPTER 77    A Curious Character—A Series of Stories—Sad Fate of a Liar—Evidence of Insanity
CHAPTER 78    Return to San Francisco—Ship Amusements—Preparing for Lecturing—Valuable Assistance Secured—My First Attempt—The Audience Carried—“All’s WellⒶemendation That Ends Well”
CHAPTER 79    Highwaymen—A Predicament—A Huge Joke—Farewell to California—At Home Again—Great Changes. Moral
APPENDIX    A.—Brief Sketch of Mormon History
   B.—The Mountain Meadows Massacre
   C.—Concerning a Frightful Assassination That Was Never Consummated